Driving Home for Christmas
by clagjanet
Summary: Sundance AU #11, based on the episode "The Long Christmas Eve". An agent who wants to come in from the cold throws everyone's Christmas plans into disarray, but Amanda has a secret Santa up her sleeve.
1. Reindeer Games

Lee skirted his way through the crowd in the bullpen to his desk. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the sprig of mistletoe that someone had hung from the ceiling directly over his chair and as he walked behind his desk, he yanked it down and dropped it in his garbage can in one fluid motion, ignoring the faint gasps of feminine disappointment from the milling crowd behind him.

He sat down and glared at the small decorated tree that had appeared on the corner of his desk and reached for it to give it the same treatment. A hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving it away from its spot.

"Oh no you don't," Francine hissed.

"Why not?" he growled at her, trying to shake his hand loose which only made her grip his wrist harder. "You know I don't put up with this nonsense."

"Oh believe me, we _all_ know! But Amanda doesn't know – and that's from her," she shot back quietly.

"Wait – you mean…" His eyes shifted to the garbage can and its new contents.

 _That couldn't be her, could it? I mean, I know we've been closer since that whole concussion thing… and that kiss was pretty unforgettable…_ He winced as he remembered that he _had_ actually forgotten it – even if it was only for a few days.

Francine's gaze followed his and misinterpreting his wince, she bit back a laugh. "Oh lord, no. That's the steno pool bimbos as usual, but this-" She tugged his wrist while her other hand grabbed the pot. "- Is from Amanda and she's just trying to be _nice_. You should try it some time, Mr. Grinch."

Lee let go of the tree with a grunt, his expression still dark. "Fine. But take it to your desk, will ya? I don't like stuff cluttering the place up."

There was a beat while both of them dropped their eyes to study the stacks of paperwork that covered Lee's desk.

"Uh-huh," said Francine sarcastically. "This would be such a problem."

"I don't like unnecessary things in my line of vision," he grumbled. "It's distracting."

"Fine," she responded. "I'll just put it back here where it won't bother you." She stepped behind him and plunked the small tree on his file cabinet. "Out of sight, out of mind."

Lee glared at her but had no ready argument for actually getting rid of the damn thing. "Fine," he growled. "But that is the only thing that's allowed to stay, got it? No lights, no tchotchkes, and absolutely no tinsel!"

"Afraid you'll get tinsel-it is?" Francine teased him, carefully straightening one of the tiny decorations.

"Har dee har har," he groused. "Just make sure I don't get stuck with anything else."

"Why do I have to be the bad guy? Why don't you just tell Amanda yourself that Christmas isn't your thing?"

Lee's expression turned pained and he gave off a frustrated sigh. "Because she's so… enthusiastic," he finally decided on. "It would be like kicking one of Santa's reindeer."

"Oh really?" laughed Francine. "And which one would she be? Cupid? Oh I know – the suburban exterior hides a red-blooded Vixen!"

Lee had just opened his mouth to respond when Billy's door flew open and his voice boomed across the bullpen. "Scarecrow! Get down to Freeman's Department Store! Amanda just called and said someone just blew up a telephone booth on the sidewalk while she was Christmas shopping. She's fine!" he went on quickly seeing Lee go pale, "But if it's what I think it is, I was in the middle of talking to the intended victim! Go get her and bring her back here asap!"

Lee scrambled to his feet, barely stopping to grab his coat and keys before he was running out of the room. As he got to the elevator, he realized Francine was at his elbow, and without a word, they both stepped through the opening door.

As he tapped his hand on his thigh impatiently, willing it to go faster, he heard Francine give off a small snort and turned to look at her inquiringly.

"Well, at least we know one thing for certain now," she commented, glancing up and giving him an encouraging grin. "She's definitely Blitzen."


	2. Can't go wrong with Green Bean Casserole

As soon as she saw the Porsche pulling up to the curb, Amanda jumped up from the park bench where she was sitting with the police officer who was taking her statement and immediately launched into a rapid-fire explanation, almost before Lee and Francine were out of the car.

"Oh Lee! Thank goodness! There was a man here – and I think someone was trying to kill him because Santa ran off and jumped in a cab in such a suspicious way but this policeman says no one else saw him, and he doesn't believe me about that part so now they think he was blowing up his own phone booth and who would think that, because no one would blow up a phone booth they were standing in, would they?" She paused and wrinkled her brow. "Unless it was an accident, but how could that happen? Oh, and the other man, the first man, the one who almost blew up, I think he was hurt but he wouldn't stay here, even though I told him that I knew federal agents who would help him and I tried to hold on to him but when I went to find another phone to call Mr. Melrose, he got away!"

Lee had spent the time that it took Amanda to get that all out to show the policeman his badge and then lead her out of earshot, then ran his hands gently along her arms as he studied her for any sign of injury.

"You think someone blew up a phone booth by accident?" asked Francine in confusion, having lost the thread of what Amanda was saying.

"Oh no, of course not," said Amanda. "That part was definitely on purpose." She gave Lee's chest an absent-minded pat as he stepped back after his survey.

"So you think someone was trying to kill Santa Claus?" Francine asked next. Now it was her turn to step forward and begin running her hand over Amanda's head, looking for any injury that would explain the confusion, while Amanda tried to bat her away. "I mean, I know Lee's not the only one who hates Christmas, but seriously, Amanda-"

"No!" said Lee, intervening before it could go any further. "Someone dressed as Santa blew up a phone booth with someone in it and he left in a cab and then the guy in the phone booth ran away when Amanda mentioned us. Right?'

Amanda nodded violently. "Exactly!"

"You got all that from what she said?" asked Francine incredulously.

"Of course, I did," replied Lee, smugly. Francine's eyes narrowed and she looked at him skeptically. "Well, you kind of get used to it after a while," he explained. "It just takes practice."

"Okay then," said Francine, turning to look back at Amanda. "Do you think you could describe either of the men?'

"Well, not the first one because you know, he had the beard and the suit and everything," Amanda gestured to herself, sketching out a vaguely Santa-like outline. "But I think I could manage the second one."

"Well, that's a start," said Francine.

"If Billy's right, we may not even need that," interrupted Lee. "Come on, Amanda, let's get you back to the Agency."

"Okay," she agreed before stopping dead, grabbing his arm. "Oh wait! My shopping!"

She turned and hurried back to the bench and began picking up bag after bag.

"Amanda! What did you do? Buy out the whole store?" complained Lee.

"Well, it's just some things for Christmas for-"

"I know, I know – for the boys and your mother."

"Well, no," she began before Lee cut her off again.

"And there's no way this is all going to fit in the car!" he complained.

"Well I didn't buy it thinking I was going to have to fit it in your car, did I?" Amanda shot back hotly.

"Well, there's no way all three of us were going to fit in your car anyway," Francine interceded, starting to take bags from Amanda. "So Amanda, give me your keys and point me in the right direction, and I will take your car and bags back to the Agency and you can go back in Lee's car and start working on that identification sketch, okay? And maybe the two of you can spend the time calming down a little. After all, Amanda has had a shock from seeing someone almost blown up and you-" she paused and looked Lee up and down. "Well, you had to come out here above ground and spend time where the Christmas is."

"Very funny," snapped Lee, taking Amanda by the elbow and leading her toward the haphazardly parked Porsche just outside of the police tape. "Just hurry up and meet us back there."

Amanda attempted to thank Francine and finally settled for a wave and a shrug as Lee held open the car door and tapped his foot impatiently. Francine gave her an encouraging thumbs up and turned to head over to the parking meter where Amanda's wagon was parked.

In the Porsche, after Lee had pulled back into traffic, there was an uneasy silence. Amanda knew he was always grouchy when she'd had a near miss of any kind but it did seem like this was more than normal. In fact he's been grouchy for the past few weeks and she was at a loss to understand why.

 _I thought we were getting closer_ , she mused, _especially since he remembered_ … She swallowed hard, as it occurred to her that maybe that was why he'd been getting more withdrawn again. _Could he regret that kiss so much that he'd just stop talking to me?_

She turned and studied his profile for a moment, noting with relief that although his expression was stern and slightly distracted, at least the cheek tic that said he was really angry was absent. Gathering her courage, she finally ventured to ask, "So Mr. Melrose sent you to pick me up?"

"Yes," Lee answered curtly. "He said he was talking to someone just before you called and he thinks your explosion had something to do with his phone call."

"But if the person he was talking to was the man in the phone booth, why would he run away when I mentioned the Agency? If he knows Billy, wouldn't he know he'd help him?"

"Amanda," Lee answered in an overly-patient voice. "Not everyone who phones to talk to someone at the Agency is on our side, you know. It could have been a Russian or a snitch or any number of people like that who would not want to be dragged into the Agency – especially if they thought someone was trying to kill them!"

"You mean some of the bad guys know the phone number for the Agency?" asked Amanda. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Well, they don't know the real numbers, Amanda. They've been given numbers that get forwarded to us, like through a calling service or something." He glanced over, taking in her dubious expression. "Our work isn't all fighting the bad guys you know; a lot of the time, it's quiet phone calls or exchanging useful information over a couple of friendly drinks to make sure nothing gets too out of hand."

"A sort of shadow diplomat kind of thing?" she asked, head tilting as she took in this new concept.

"Exactly," he nodded.

"So where do you have these friendly drinks?" she pressed him, all curiosity now. "Is there a weekly spy potluck or something?"

"No," he grinned despite himself. Amanda had an unexpected way of phrasing things that always made him laugh. "No potlucks. There's just a few bars in town where everyone knows why everyone else is there; they're a kind of neutral territory, like Switzerland."

"Where everybody knows your name?" asked Amanda, with a warm laugh.

"Something like that," he admitted.

"Well then, I guess I won't need to break out my go-to dish."

"Let me guess: green bean casserole?"

Amanda made a disparaging noise. "Don't be silly. Spies would get my very best poppyseed cake. You can get anything out of anyone because no one can resist it."

"I'll take you along some time, you can see for yourself just how dull it is," he promised.

"Oh, that would be fun! What's the dress code? Do you all wear trench coats and dark sunglasses?" she teased him.

"Only on special occasions," Lee chuckled.

She was relieved at the way his mood continued to lift as their banter went on. "I can only imagine what those might be," she commented. "Mata Hari's birthday? Nathan Hale Toastmasters Club meeting?"

As she spoke, she leaned down to run a finger along her leg with a slight hiss.

"What's the matter?" Lee took his eyes off the road and glanced at her, doing a double take when he saw the blood trickling down her leg. "When did that happen?" he asked brusquely, pulling the Porsche sharply to the curb. "You said you were fine!" he growled accusingly.

"Oh Lee, don't worry – I just scraped it when that man knocked me down," she reassured him. "It's nothing."

"He knocked you down? You didn't say that before either," he grumbled, reaching into his jacket pocket for a handkerchief and passing it to her.

"Well, yes, that's how I ended up talking to him, you see. I was walking out of the store and he was running and shouting for us all to get back, but I couldn't move very quickly with all my bags and he pushed me down. And then the phone booth blew up and he shielded me from that, and then, well, he was so apologetic though – he stopped and helped me pick it all up and kept saying he was sorry although I'm sure it wasn't like anyone could blame him for someone else putting a bomb there. Although I suppose he did know about it, but he really did try and keep everyone from getting hurt."

Lee had been nodding through the entire story. "But you're okay? Nothing else happened to you?"

"Nope, just a scraped leg and a sore elbow from hitting the ground," Amanda said cheerfully. "Like I said, he shielded me from the worst of it."

"Well, maybe he wasn't a bad guy then – and with luck, we'll get a chance to thank him for that," answered Lee. "Especially if Billy is right about knowing who it was."


	3. All of the Other Reindeer

"Oh yes, Sir!" Amanda nodded vigorously as she handed the photo back to Billy half an hour later. "That's definitely the man I talked to."

"So who is it, Billy?" Lee had been looking over Amanda's shoulder and while he knew the man looked familiar, he couldn't place him.

"Ted Rudolph," Billy responded, dropping the photo back on his desk.

"Janus?" asked Lee. "He's still out there at his age?"

"He's only in his late 50s, Scarecrow," said Billy, with a raised eyebrow. "Don't send him off to pasture just yet."

"Well what did he want then?" Lee shot back. "A better assignment? French Riviera maybe?"

"Hardly," said Billy, settling back behind his desk. "He wants to come in from the cold, reconnect with his family."

"He has family?" Lee was surprised. Old school operatives like Janus never seemed the type to have sentimental ties to anything, let alone families. "Where do they think he's been all this time?"

"I'm trying to get more of his file released to see what they were told, but his wife died in '75 so there's only his daughter. She's about your age so she would have been a toddler when he went behind the Iron Curtain. We're trying to track her down, but their last known address is a dead end and she's probably moved or married or any number of things. And I'm supposed to have an answer for him by the time he calls back."

"Do we have social security numbers for his wife or daughter?" interrupted Amanda. "Even if his daughter had changed her last name, you should be able to track her with that."

"Good thinking, Amanda," replied Billy, snapping his fingers. "Francine, can you and Amanda start working on that? Scarecrow, I want you to go out and trawl – see what you can pick up on the street about Janus coming back in. If this is a trap, I don't want us to be the ones caught in it."

"Oh I don't think it's a trap, Sir," said Amanda seriously. "He seemed like a very nice man when I talked to him.

Lee and Billy exchanged a look. "Very nice men don't have people trying to blow them up, Amanda," Lee pointed out, only barely managing to hide the sarcasm in his tone.

"Well, I know that," she snapped back, not at all fooled. "But he wasn't the one doing the blowing up, was he? And I just think, well, it's Christmas and maybe he's just missing his family. It is the season of forgiveness and new starts, after all."

"Yeah right. Christmas." Lee rolled his eyes. "Every December, everyone is friends again, just like Snoopy and the Red Baron."

"Well, maybe not everybody," said Amanda standing up and walking to the door with a hurt expression. "But at least some of us who try to enjoy the season get some joy out of it." She opened the door and stepped out into the bullpen without looking back.

Francine followed her but not before giving Lee one last scathing look. "So much for not kicking the reindeer," she hissed, and walked away as well.

Lee turned to find Billy was looking equally unimpressed with him. "Oh come on, Billy!" he began to defend himself immediately. "Nobody should be that naive! There's no way Ted Rudolph has shown back up here just because he's tired of not getting a turkey dinner on the 25th!"

Billy leaned forward and jabbed a finger at him. "You know what? Your attitude always gets worse at this time of year, and it's getting pretty tiresome! Amanda's right – most people do get sentimental around the holidays and there's no reason to think that isn't what's rattling Janus' cage." He took in Lee's slightly belligerent expression. "What is it with you and Christmas anyway?"

Lee shrugged. "Nothing personal. It's just a day like any other day to me, but I sure get sick of people trying to force me to be happy about it. I can't even get away from it here –walk five minutes in any direction and someone is asking what my holiday plans are, or what family I'm spending it with, or cluttering up my desk with stuff… Half the steno pool is dropping heavy handed hints at me for what Santa could bring them – it's worse than Valentine's Day."

Billy sighed and held up a hand to stop him. "People aren't trying to force you to do anything, Lee, they just want you to know they care about you. Why is that so odd?"

"It's not, I guess," Lee muttered defensively. "I just think it's all mostly people being suckered into fake holiday spirit by advertising execs. We're not supposed to be sentimental, Billy, we're supposed to be hard-headed intelligence agents! I don't know why people try to make one day so important, that's all."

Billy considered that for a moment, then said, "Do you know the only time Jeanie and I spent Christmas apart in the past 40 years was 1976? When I spent it in Istanbul trying to find you and pull your hide out of a catacomb?" Lee flinched and looked guilty. "And do you know what she said to me as soon as I got home?"

Lee shook his head.

"Well, first she said 'The girls didn't want to have Christmas without you so all the gifts are still under the tree and I saved baking the ham until you got here' and then she asked why on earth I hadn't brought you home for dinner too."

"Oh." Lee ran a finger along his collar as if it had suddenly tightened. "She wasn't mad?"

"Of course she was mad, you fool!" Billy wasn't yelling yet but his voice had risen. "But family is family, and she knew I wasn't going to come home without you, so my girls and our Christmas waited that year. So maybe Janus is living up to his name and pulling the con job for the ages – or maybe, just maybe, Amanda is right and he just wants to come home to what little family he has left! And until we know for sure, you just go do what I asked and get out of my sight for a few hours! And stop taking your bad mood about Christmas spirit out on Amanda, you hear?"

"I hear." Lee slunk out of the office and headed for his desk to collect his coat. He glanced over at Francine's desk where two heads, one blonde, one dark, were bent together over a computer monitor. Francine looked up and met his eye with a stern expression but Amanda kept her gaze down as he gave a half-hearted wave on his way out.

For a brief moment, he stilled, feeling like it was bad luck to have Amanda mad at him before he left but then he shook himself. _Bah humbug. This whole Christmas thing is getting to everyone, but it's_ _not_ _getting to me._

* * *

"We found her!" Francine appeared at Billy's door waving their notes, Amanda right behind her. "Amanda was right – we didn't have the daughter's social security number in our files but we did have her mother's and when her mother died and Karen inherited the house, we picked up the trail from there because there was extra paperwork because of having to declare her father dead. Which I guess he isn't," she went on thoughtfully. "So undoing that is going to jam up his life for a while, I guess."

"Better than actually being dead," said Billy, taking the pad with their notes on it. "Portland? Damn, I was hoping she was closer than that. Rudolph called and he wants to see her before he'll come in."

"Well, it's only a half a day's flight," said Amanda. "She could get here, couldn't she?"

"He wants to see her by the 25th – or he says he'll blow our international operations wide open," sighed Billy. "And he could do it too." He groaned and leaned back in his chair. "We don't even know if she'd be willing to come – if she's thought he was dead all these years and she hadn't seen him since she was a baby, why would she even care?"

"Because he's her father," said Amanda quietly.

Billy stared at her across the desk, then nodded. "You're right, Mrs. King. I'm making up obstacles before we've even asked her if she's willing to see him. You two get all the contact info and I'll-" He paused as he caught sight of Lee returning and waved him into the office. "What have you found, Scarecrow?"

"It looks like Janus is serious about coming home," said Lee without any preamble, as he dropped into a chair opposite his boss. "Apparently he burned all his bridges on the other side of the Iron Curtain – and our Soviet friends were none too happy about that, if the word on the street is right."

"No kidding," said Francine. "I mean, you hardly try and blow up a guy in a phone booth otherwise. Unless you're Lex Luthor and you're trying to get Superman, of course."

"Well, he's no Superman," said Lee. "His reputation in Moscow has been declining – he's been drinking and complaining none too quietly about missing out on seeing his daughter grow up and now her kids – so if he's right about those, he's been keeping tabs on her somehow."

"He's right," said Amanda, tapping her own note pad. "Two young ones and a baby girl just arrived a few weeks ago, born on her grandmother's birthday and named after her."

"That might have been what set him off," said Billy, nodding. "Circle of life coming around, thinking about his wife…"

"So what do we do now?" asked Francine. "We can try and get her on a plane, but at this time of year, there's probably nothing left to get her here on time."

"On time for what?" asked Lee.

"His deadline," said Billy. He quickly sketched out his phone conversation again for Lee, who nodded throughout.

"Couldn't we just send up a female agent and tell her to pretend to be, uh…"

"Karen," Amanda supplied.

"Yeah, Karen. I mean he hasn't seen her since she was a baby – we could fool him long enough to get the real one here."

"If he's been keeping tabs on her, he probably knows what she looks like," Francine pointed out.

"And he certainly knows what most of our agents looks like," agreed Billy. "I don't think we can take that chance."

There was a silence while they all considered the possibilities.

"I think you should start with asking Karen if she's even willing to come," Amanda finally ventured.

"Yes," said Billy, nodding. "Francine, you go start that process and we'll figure out where to go from there."

"Um, Sir?" Amanda interrupted shyly. "Can I...? Do you think it would help if I talked to her? I mean, I lost my dad not so long ago…" She gave Lee a quick glance but his stony expression gave nothing away. "So maybe I could be, well maybe a bit more sympathetic to what she might be feeling?"

Billy beamed at her. "That's an excellent idea! Francine, go find a quiet room where Amanda can make the call and get back to me with what she says."

The two women nodded and jumped up, leaving Billy and Lee alone.

"Billy," said Lee, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "The word out there is that they're still after Rudolph with a shoot-to-kill order. We're going to have to be extra careful about bringing him in – if he's even being truthful about why he's here."

"I know," said Billy. "He says he's up in a cabin off Route 84. Let's see how Amanda does with the daughter and then we'll send a team up there to collect him."

"With force?"

"Depends what the daughter says," Billy shrugged. "Either way, we sure as hell can't leave him loose out there."

"Except that when you come right down to it, I don't think an American prison is any better than a Soviet one," said Lee. "So he might not come willingly."

"Well then, let's hope Amanda's right about that family feeling lasting 30 years," answered Billy. "Because I don't really want to be the guy who gives Rudolph life without parole for Christmas."


	4. One Wise King

An hour later, Francine and Amanda flopped back in the chairs of the small meeting room they'd commandeered and stared at each other.

"Well, at least she definitely wants to see him," said Amanda.

"Yes, but she wants her whole family to see him!" exclaimed Francine. "I wasn't sure we could get one person a space on a plane this close to Christmas and now she wants to bring her husband and all the kids?"

"Well, of course she does," replied Amanda. "They're all she's got since her mom died and it's Christmas."

"I'm beginning to see why Lee gets so grumpy about it," groaned Francine. "Any other time of the year and this would be so simple! But how do we wave our wands and get five people here in a day and a half?"

Amanda straightened up, obviously struck by a thought. "I have an idea," she said.

"I can tell," grinned Francine. "I think I just saw a cartoon lightbulb over your head."

"It might not work," cautioned Amanda. "But I could…" she trailed off.

"You could what? Ask Santa to bring them in his sleigh?"

"Something like that," said Amanda cryptically. "I need to make a call."

Francine gestured at the phone. "Well, off you go."

"Not from here," said Amanda shaking her head. "It's… well it's not someone I should call from here."

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Francine, looking intrigued. "Do you have friends in low places we don't know about?"

"I don't know yet," confessed Amanda. "I'll tell you in half an hour when I get back from the payphone down the street." She paused and glanced at Francine. "You guys don't have that one bugged or anything do you?"

Francine's brows went even higher. "No, Dear, that would be frowned upon in legal circles, even in Washington."

"Okay good. Give me all your change – I need to make a long distance call."

Francine rolled her eyes and pulled her purse out from under the table. "I can hardly wait to see what this turns into,"

"With luck, a family reunion."

* * *

There was something reassuring about the familiar sounds of a happy family in the background when her call went through even though it was the last thing she expected. Amanda had stared at the number in her address book for so long, working up her nerve that she'd almost convinced herself it couldn't be the real thing until a childish voice said "Hello?"

"Um, hi," she stammered out. "May I speak with Mr. Cassidy please? It's Amanda King."

"Just a second." There was a pause and then a screeched-out "Daaaa-deeee! It's for you! She says she's a man king but she sounds like a lady!"

A brief pause and then Leland Cassidy's voice came down the phone line. "Amanda? Is that you? What's wrong? Where are you calling from? It sounds like you're outside somewhere."

"Yes Sir, it's me but nothing's wrong exactly," she said promptly. "And I'm at a phone booth down the street from the office since I didn't think I should call your number from inside the Agency because I wasn't sure if they logged things like that and I know you like your privacy and I'm sorry I didn't realize this was your home phone number, I thought when you said it was your number that you meant your office and I would never have called… I mean, you're busy with your family and I shouldn't have called but it just seemed like-"

"Amanda – slow down and breathe!" he laughed. "When I gave you my number, I knew you wouldn't use it unless you had to. Now what's the problem?"

"Well Sir, it is sort of work related but I'm not calling you because of you being-" she dropped her voice, whispering even in the privacy of the phone booth. "Blue Leader. It's more Mr. Cassidy I was hoping for, and I hope you don't mind but it is Christmas and you know, it's all about families…"

"Amanda, if you're hoping I can pull strings to get you a Cabbage Patch doll, believe me, even I'm not rich enough for that," he chuckled.

"Oh no, Sir! Not at all, Sir. My boys wouldn't know what to do with a doll if their lives depended on it!" she laughed along with him. "No Sir, I was hoping you might have something more along the line of a sleigh."

"Well now, that sounds intriguing," he responded. "Where do you need to go in this sleigh?"

"I don't need to go anywhere, Sir – I was hoping we could bring a few people here." And with that, she launched into her idea.

* * *

"Even if we can get Rudolph to come down from his cabin, how do we convince him his family will really come meet him?" Lee was pacing around Billy's office again.

"I don't know," Billy admitted. "We've got nothing and he's supposed to call any minute to finalize the details."

"He can call and talk to Karen himself, if he wants" said Amanda from the doorway as she walked in, followed by Francine. "But he'll have to be quick - they're getting on a plane in the next hour or so, and they'll be here by tonight."

"Tonight?" Billy said in amazement. "And what do you mean 'they'?"

"Karen and her family," said Amanda. "They're all coming. I mean, what else could they do? Nobody likes to be away from their family at Christmas, no matter how good the reason."

"Amanda," said Billy gently. "The Agency doesn't have the budget for that many flights at the last minute. They can't all come."

"No Sir, I know that, Sir and it's not coming out of the Agency budget, Sir." Amanda bit her lip and looked a tiny bit guilty. "I, umm, well, I asked a friend for a favor."

Lee and Billy exchanged a concerned look before both turning to face Amanda.

"What friend and what kind of favor?" asked Lee.

"I called Leland Cassidy and asked if he could help get them on a flight and I really just hoped he'd have some way to get them all seats on a regular plane but when I explained the situation to him, he said he'd send his private jet to pick them up and bring them here," Amanda blurted out.

Billy sat down heavily in his chair. "You called Leland Cassidy?" he repeated in a strangled voice. "You called one of our country's richest men and asked him to help the Agency monetarily with a case?"

"No Sir," Amanda said firmly and with a hint of a reprimand in her voice. "I asked him if he could help a family. And he said yes."

"Does he know who this family is?" asked Lee, sounding equally stunned as Billy. "This is classified information, Amanda – you can't just go telling people about double agents and whatnot!"

"Well, he is-" Amanda stopped at the worried look on Billy's face. It was obvious from his expression that he had no idea of Leland Cassidy's own secret identity and was fearful she'd just disclosed something that was definitely need-to-know. "Well, he knows we work for the Agency," she plunged on. "And I did tell him it was because of Agency work that the family was apart. And I reminded him it was-"

"Christmas." Lee finished her sentence and dropped his head into his hands. "Oh my God. I can't believe you thought the whole holly jolly thing would work on one of the savviest businessmen in the world. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that he has kids of his own and parents of his own and that he might be able to help! And he did!" Amanda flared up at him. "I don't know why you have such a burr in your britches but-"

Just at that moment the phone rang and Billy held up a hand. "Quiet, children. This will be our Mr. Rudolph now." He punched the button on his phone and barked, "Melrose here."

"I trust you've come to the right decision, Melrose," said a silky voice Amanda recognized from her run-in with Rudolph earlier. "I wouldn't want to have to ruin your Christmas just because you couldn't provide me with one small request."

"We're just working out the details, Rudolph. But yes, it looks like you'll be seeing your daughter for Christmas."

"She's there?"

"No, I'm sorry, Mr. Rudolph, but she's on her way," Amanda interjected. "She's flying from Portland and she'll be here in a few hours."

"What time does she get to Dulles?"

"She's not coming to Dulles, Mr. Rudolph. As I was just about to explain to Mr. Melrose…" - Amanda gave Billy an apologetic look – "The only flight we could arrange for her is going to Wilmington and we'll be picking her up and bringing her to Washington to meet you."

"That's not what I asked for!" snapped Rudolph. "You're supposed to bring her up here to my cabin!"

"Mr Rudolph? If I might explain?" said Amanda.

"Who is that that keeps talking anyway? Who are you that you want to try and explain this away?" he growled.

My name is Amanda King – we sort of met this morning when you knocked me down outside Freeman's."

"That was you?" he asked in disbelief. "You're really with the Agency? Of all the people I had to literally run into today, I ran into you?"

"Happens more often that you'd think," muttered Lee under his breath.

Amanda ignored him, pressing on with her explanation. "Yes, I am. And I talked to Karen today and she can't wait to see you. In fact, she's bringing her whole family – and you can't really expect her to drag a tiny baby up to some cabin in the woods, can you?"

There was a long silence and then Rudolph spoke, voice hoarse with emotion. "She's bringing the children?"

"Well, of course she is," said Amanda. "She wants to see you but she doesn't want to be away from her own children at Christmas. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Yes," Rudolph answered instantly. "Yes, of course I can! It's just that… I wasn't even sure she'd want to see me at all and now you say… when do they get here? When can I see them?"

"Well, like I said, we need to go up to Wilmington and drive them back here so with flying time and everything…" Amanda looked up at Billy, who nodded encouragingly. "Eight hours? You can be with them for Christmas Eve tonight."

"Well, that's just… just… I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Now wait a minute, Janus," said Billy. "You can't just wander in out of the woods on your own. The word out there is that the Russians have a hit out on you. I need you to stay tight until I can get a team up there to extract you safely!"

"I've been doing this job for longer than you've been able to tie your shoes, Billy Melrose-"

"Ted, you and I were in the same recruit class at the Agency training school, so don't you try that nonsense with me," Billy interrupted him. "I'm sending up a team and that's final."

"Fine," grumbled Rudolph. "If it'll make you feel better to make me babysit a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears youngsters, I can't stop you."

"I'm trying not to attract attention to you, you old coot," replied Billy. "I'm not going to send an army up there."

"Well, tell 'em to mind their manners when they get here. Don't want to be shooting off the wrong heads after all."

Before anyone could answer, the phone clicked and the line went dead.

"So now what?" said Francine. "You want me to go up to Wilmington and collect the daughter?"

"Sir?" Amanda interjected. "I'd like to go, if I may. I was the one who talked Karen into coming and Mr. Cassidy's pilot will be expecting me to meet them…"

"You're way ahead of me, Amanda," grinned Billy. "I was just going to suggest that. You good to find your way up to Wilmington?"

"She can't go by herself. I'm going with her," insisted Lee, unexpectedly. When Amanda turned to stare at him, he explained, "You know if anyone can get into trouble, it's you. And, if the Soviets were watching today, they might know you talked to Rudolph and they could very well be watching you now to see if you lead them back to him."

"I do not always get into trouble!" Amanda seized on the first part of his explanation. "Not always," she repeated feebly as Francine muffled a laugh.

"Amanda, if the Russians show up at Wilmington airport and try and do anything to Janus' family, what would you do?" Lee cocked an eyebrow and waited with an expectant expression.

"Well, I wouldn't let them! I'd…" Amanda trailed off as Billy started to laugh. "I guess I'd probably get into trouble," she muttered, resignedly.

"Go with her, Scarecrow," Billy ordered before turning to Francine. "Which leaves you as the most senior agent still on duty on Christmas Eve."

"Oh no," she began to protest. "You want me to go tramping around in the woods looking for Ted Rudolph? Amanda? Can't we trade? You have that whole Scout thing going – you can probably find your way around the woods blindfolded."

"Pack your hiking boots and get going, Desmond" smiled her boss. "You can pick your partner from the duty roster." He glanced out at the bullpen and smiled. "Looks like Fred's still here."

"Oh no, no, no," Francine objected. "Anyone but Fred."

"It's Christmas Eve," Billy pointed out. "We're on skeleton staff here. You don't have your pick of agents right now."

"I can take Efraim," she argued. "He's on the roster right? I know he volunteered for it."

"Not as a field agent!" said Billy.

"You said I could pick my partner!" she retorted. "He's on the roster and at least I trust him to be able to read a map! Fred would probably walk into a spider web and run off screaming like a little girl."

"He's not a bad choice," Lee added. "He doesn't even need to read a map - he can just memorize it with that weird brain of his."

"His brain is not weird!" Francine began to defend him before realizing she was getting sidetracked. "He's who I pick, okay? It's just a little extraction job – we'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Okay," Billy gave in. "Go get kitted out and get on your way. And watch your tail -we know the Soviets want him even more than we do."

Francine jumped up and left the room before he could change his mind. As the door clicked behind her, Billy gave a rumbling laugh. "When will you people learn? All I have to do is offer up Fred and every one of you jumps exactly the way I want you to."

"You wanted her to take Efraim?" asked Amanda.

"I wanted her to take someone she trusts and who will have her back no matter what. But if I'd suggested him, she would have come up with a thousand excuses why he shouldn't go because she'd be worried about him. This way, she thinks she made the decision herself."

"That was a nice bit of engineering, I gotta say." Lee shook his head admiringly. "But you couldn't fool me with a stunt that obvious."

Billy looked at him and visibly stifled his laughter. "Oh no, Scarecrow. You're much too smart for anything like that." He turned to beam at Amanda. "So when can the two of you leave?"


	5. Won't you come on a sleigh ride with me?

Francine stuck her head around the door of Efraim's office and smiled brightly. "Hey there, Handsome! How would you feel about going out with me?"

Efraim put down the magazine he was reading and surveyed her with a slow smile. "I thought I was already going out with you."

Francine dimpled at him and sashayed closer. "I meant how would you like to get out of this very stuffy boring office and go out now?"

"I'd love to, but I feel like my boss would not approve of that," he twinkled at her.

"I actually have specific permission from your boss for this," she replied, settling onto the corner of his desk. "So how about it?"

"You know I will willingly follow you to the ends of the Earth, Darling," he said. "And I feel like this isn't a date you're suggesting so… where are we going?"

"Well good news: not to the ends of the Earth," she hedged. "But how would you feel about the edge of the county?"

"St George's County?"

"Not exactly."

Efraim leaned back in his chair and stared at her suspiciously. "I'm listening."

"Shenandoah County."

"Shenan- holy cow, when you said go out, you meant actually _outside_. Like, away from civilization."

"Yeah." She shifted around to face him more fully. "I have to go collect a double agent from a cabin in the woods and I need backup."

"A double agent hiding in the woods on Christmas Eve? No one would believe what a normal working day is like around here." He leaned in and took her hand to kiss her fingertips. "I don't suppose there's any chance this is really just a trick to get me up to Crump's famous rural passion pit and have your way with me, is it?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

No," she sighed, then perked up. "But when we get back, I will absolutely have my way with you any way you like. If you're not too tired from hiking up the mountain, that is."

"Hiking up the mountain?" he said faintly. "We can't just drive up there?"

"No." Francine pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. "But if you think you can't manage it, Billy said Fred could go with me instead."

"What?" Efraim shot to his feet. "Fred? Fred Fielder? Oh hell, no – I wouldn't trust that guy to walk you across a street safely."

Francine looked down to hide her smile – she knew Billy thought he'd played her into asking Efraim to partner her on this one but she had to admit, it really was kind of fun to watch Efraim leap at the same bait.

Efraim turned and started pulling maps off the shelf behind him. "Okay, where are we headed? I'll plan a route."

"Down 220 and west on 84 but we have another stop first," she replied, hopping off the desk and leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "Amanda has to go to Wilmington for the other half of this mission and she asked us to stop and pick some stuff up for her. Shouldn't take long."

"That doesn't sound hard – what kind of stuff?"

"Would you believe… diapers?"

Efraim dropped the map he was holding. "Okay – I'll get back to planning a route in a minute but now, I really want to know what the heck is going on."

Francine grinned and settled in to tell him. "Well, if you think our working day is wacky, just wait until you hear about Amanda's day…"

* * *

After a brief argument about whether or not they should get a car from the Agency pool, Lee finally agreed that they should take Amanda's car when she delivered her clinching argument: the Russians would almost definitely _not_ be looking for a station wagon as the Agency's choice of transport.

"Besides," she went on. "My car has the most room. And even then, the baby will be on someone's lap and two little ones will have to squish together in one space in the back."

"Fine," Lee grumbled. "But I'm driving."

"Well, of course," said Amanda with a suspiciously innocent expression. "If we want to look like a regular suburban couple, the man would be doing the driving!"

Lee had given her a look that said he knew she was trying to bug him, but Amanda had just smiled sweetly and led the way to her car.

"I need to get rid of all this first," she said, pointing to the shopping bags that filled her backseat.

"So we need to stop at your house?" he asked. "What if your mother or one of the boys sees me?"

"Oh, none of this is going to my house!" she said cheerfully. "I tried to tell you earlier, but you weren't listening. This is all for the church baskets that they're putting together for delivery tonight to needy families. I mean, they're mostly put together already, of course, but this is the last of the items on the wish lists for the children."

"None of this is for your kids?" Lee asked, his eyes roving over the dozen bags.

"Oh no, of course not." She looked at him, suddenly serious. "You didn't really think I'd spend this much money on Jamie and Phillip, do you? I got their main presents on layaway starting months ago, especially with Jamie's birthday being so close to Christmas, but they don't really ask for much usually. Their dad sends them something from wherever he is and Joe's parents spoil them rotten, of course, but it certainly doesn't look like this under our tree!" she gestured at the bags. "Not on my part-time pay!"

"I guess I didn't think about it," Lee admitted. "I don't really know how normal people do Christmas."

Amanda gave him a quizzical look as they got into the car, but let the subject drop as they weaved through traffic to Arlington. When they reached the church, Lee went to help her carry everything in, but she snagged two small bags out of his hand. "Not those," she said. "Those are for… someone else."

"Someone else?" Lee tried not to sound like he was too interested in knowing that Amanda had a 'someone else' she bought presents for.

"Mmm-hmm," she said, not clarifying it. "Someone else."

"Huh."

Despite Amanda having to exchange Merry Christmas greetings with absolutely everyone in the church basement, they managed to finally get out of there and on their way in under thirty minutes, Lee expertly getting them onto highway north toward Baltimore. As they passed the sign for BWI Airport, a question finally occurred to him.

"Why are we having to go to Wilmington anyway?" he asked. "Can't a private plane fly anywhere?"

"Well, it can," admitted Amanda. "But Mr. Cassidy has offices there his company was founded in Delaware, so he has a private hangar at the airport. And one of his pilots has family there, so he offered to let him do the flight and then he could bring his wife and kids along to spend the holidays with his parents. And since I'd already asked him for such a big favor, it seemed like the least I could do was meet them there."

"And how did you happen to have his number?" continued Lee. He glanced at her with sudden suspicion. "Please tell me he didn't hit on you at that party too."

"Of course he didn't," Amanda scolded him. "He's a happily married man with a family! He just called me at the hospital after that incident with James Delano and said if I ever needed help, I could call him. So I did." She silently congratulated herself on telling him the absolute truth. _As long as you don't count lies of omission._

Lee, meanwhile, had gone cold at the memory of that 'incident' as she referred to it – the end of that case had been the longest hours of his life, helplessly watching as she nearly died. Cassidy had helped him save her and he'd always be grateful for that, but if he lived to be 100, he never wanted to live through anything like that again. He realized Amanda had changed the subject.

"We should be home by this evening, right?" she asked.

"Should be," he agreed. "Two hours there, collect Karen, two hours back. Why? You got plans?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas Eve – of course I have plans! Don't you?"

"Nothing more than usual," he replied. He glanced sideways and realized she was expecting him to say more. "Chinese take-out for dinner, find something good on TV - that's the usual."

Amanda twisted in her seat to look at him. "That's your usual Christmas Eve? No friends? No family?"

"My family is exactly one person and I'm glad to say he's eight states away," said Lee. He eyed her again. "You know that."

"I knew you didn't have much family," Amanda sighed. "But I didn't know you didn't like him."

"It's not that I don't like him," Lee objected. "I just tolerate him from a distance, and vice versa, that's all. He felt he had a duty to bring me up, he did and that's done. End of story."

Amanda decided it was better not to press the subject, given the way Lee had hunched his shoulders defensively when his uncle came up.

"Okay, so if Christmas Eve is Chinese take-out, how do you usually spend your Christmas?"

"On my living room couch, with a large bowl of guacamole dip, a perfectly chilled bottle of Dom Perignon '73, and a good football game."

"That sounds lonely."

Lee gritted his teeth at the sympathetic tone of her voice "Well, it's not. Being alone is not the same as being lonely. And besides, Christmas is just like any other day of the year. It's twenty-four hours long, the sun rises, it sets, the football game's on TV, they don't deliver the mail, and the next day is the 26th."

"Oh, come on, Scrooge, I know somewhere in there, you must have at least one good Christmas memory!"

"Not really. Christmas was wherever the colonel was stationed. Once in Greenland, once in Hamburg, twice in Guam. Santa Claus came in the form of a trip to the PX on the 23rd to pick out a present and Christmas dinner was a mess hall with 500 guys fighting for the dark meat."

"You don't have any memories from before your parents…? Amanda's voice trailed off.

Lee's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "No, but I remember the first one without them," he said flatly. "I was five years old and absolutely certain that Santa Claus would bring them back. He didn't. Not then and not any year after that."

"I'm so sorry, Lee," Amanda reached out to touch his arm. "I didn't realize."

Lee hated that he'd put that catch in her voice. "It is what it is," he said through gritted teeth. "I got over it a long time ago."

Amanda squeezed his arm one more time then turned to watch the scenery whiz by out the car window. _Got over it? I don't think so, if the way you've been behaving for the last two weeks is anything to go by._ Her heart ached for the tiny boy who'd been torn so abruptly from everything he knew. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Jamie or Phillip would cope with such a loss, but at least they had family – Joe, their grandparents, Joe's brothers and sisters… they'd always have somewhere to go.

"Would you like to come to our house for Christmas dinner?" she asked before she could stop herself.

The car swerved slightly as Lee reacted. "What?" No!" he squawked. He heard the small noise of annoyance she gave off at his vehemence. "I mean, no – it's nice of you to ask but going to dinner and sitting there with your family wondering who I am and why I'm there?" he shuddered slightly. "And they're not ever supposed to know who I am, you know that."

"We could tell them-"

"No!" Lee took a deep breath. "Just no, okay? No family, no dinner, no tree, no mistletoe, no anything!" Too late he saw the look on her face and remembered the small tree Amanda has left on his desk. "I mean, I appreciate the offer, but me and Christmas – we're just not… compatible."

"Okay," she said softly. "But if you change your mind…"

"I won't." He pretended to be distracted by having to overtake a truck, then took advantage of the gap in the conversation to ride in silence for the next 50 miles, while Amanda stared out the window.


	6. Well, Wasn't That a Party?

"We've picked up a tail," announced Efraim, watching the car behind them in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, I know," replied Francine. She arched a brow at him and waved her compact mirror at him. "I haven't really been doing my makeup for the last twenty minutes, you know."

"It did seem a bit much, even for you," he teased. "So what are we going to do about our friends back there?"

"There's been billboards for the last couple of miles for a roadhouse that should be just before the trail up to the cabin. Pull in there and we'll see what we can do."

"Yes, Ma'am."

A few minutes later, the roadhouse came into view and Francine gave a small grunt of approval. "Perfect," she announced, surveying the mix of pick-ups and motorcycles in the parking lot.

"I'm afraid to ask," grinned Efraim.

"Let me go in first," she ordered. "Find a spot to watch and see if they follow us in here, then come find me. Oh, and be prepared to duck when I tell you to."

"This just gets better and better," he commented with a slight roll of his eyes.

A few minutes later, Efraim sidled up to stand beside her where she was leaning on the bar.

"And do we have company?" she asked quietly, not looking at him.

"The two guys in shiny new hunting gear with the tags still on?" he murmured quietly. "That's Ivan and Dmitri – Sergei Palinkov's favorite bulldogs."

"Why am I not surprised you know that?" she asked.

Efraim tapped his head. "Good for more than just remembering a few of your favorite things. Ernie the Camera and I are thinking about taking our act on the road."

"It does make the two of you so much fun at parties," she jibed, still watching the hulking pair of Russians in the mirror over the bar. "Although this party is about to get a lot more interesting even without that."

"I had no idea Christmas Eve could be so interesting. I thought it was all sugar plums and silent nights."

"Oh no, they're all like this," Francine answered. "Why else would the song tell you 'you'd better watch out'?""

"I plead ignorance, but next year, I'll see if I can organize eight nights of Hannukah mayhem for you," he promised. "But what are we doing right now?"

"Right now, we're going to attract some attention," she muttered.

"Okay," Efraim answered doubtfully. "Whatever you say, Boss."

"When I shove you, you shove me back _hard_. And when I say duck, you duck."

"Uh-huh." Efraim pushed his glasses back up his nose. "You know there's a reason I'm not much of a field agent right?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You had to pass all the same physical training as the rest of us."

"Well, pass yes, but remember, someone has to be bottom of the class," he said, self-deprecatingly.

Francine ran her fingers up his arm. "I've never had a reason to complain about your levels of physical fitness."

"You've never made me take on two burly Russian goons before!"

Francine sighed. "Do you understand the laws of physics?"

"Yes."

"Can you duck on command?"

"Yes."

"Then today you can be a field agent. Follow me." She turned and pushed her way through the crowd, Efraim following her until they were right beside where their Russian counterparts were standing. Suddenly coming to a dead stop, Francine turned to him and yelled, "Did you just pinch my ass?"

"I… wh-wh-what?" stammered Efraim.

"I asked if you just pinched my ass!" Francine's voice was rising, attracting more and more attention. "Because I said you could buy me a drink, not manhandle me, you four-eyed bozo!" She put her hands on his chest and shoved him lightly so that he had to take a step back, his body bumping Ivan's slightly.

Remembering her instructions, Efraim leaned forward and yelled back, "Why would I want to pinch the ass on a bottle-blonde floozy like you?" and gave her a much harder shove sending her into the man standing behind her.

That man turned around, bearing a beady eye on Efraim. He moved Francine out of his way and got closer to a shrinking Efraim. "Did you just push this lady?"

"She pushed me first," said Efraim feebly, wondering if Francine's idea was actually a good one.

"Darn right I did!" Francine re-entered the fray. "No guy gets to put his hands all over me unless I say so! And he won't take no for an answer."

Her new knight glared at Efraim. "Is that true?"

Efraim's eyes darted toward Francine, who nodded imperceptibly. "Yes," he nodded.

"Well, good for you for being honest," said her protector. "But you're still going to get this."

In the split second as the man's fist swung toward his jaw, Efraim heard Francine's sudden sharp order and ducked. The man's fist flew past him and connected solidly with Ivan's jaw, sending him careening into Dmitri and then over a table full of beer glasses.

"Hey!" shouted the table's occupants leaping to their feet. One of them picked up Ivan and punched him again. "Watch where you're going!"

Dmitri had no choice but to come to his defense, wading into the crowd shouting Russian expletives as he went.

"Are these goddamn Russkies picking a fight?" yelled a voice and then Efraim felt Francine grab his hand and tug him sideways, just before the entire bar erupted into a brawl.

"Door. Now," she ordered and led him unerringly through the pulsing mayhem to the exit, along with a few other fleeing patrons.

As they stood outside in the bleak winter sunshine, Efraim ran his hands over her. "Are you okay?"

"Not even a hair out of place." Francine was bouncing on her toes, adrenaline pumping. "My dad is Irish and that was every Desmond family get-together ever," she announced. "Now let's get going, before they manage to get out of that."

Efraim followed her to the car, shaking his head ruefully. "I honestly don't know what you see in me when I see how much fun you have doing this," he commented.

Francine stopped dead and pulled him down for a quick kiss. "I love you because you let me do stuff like that without getting all hissy about it. Now come on, we gotta move before the cops show up." They turned back to the car, stopping dead when they saw the man leaning on the back of it, grinning at them.

"That was very impressive," he said. "Billy Melrose and I did an almost identical maneuver to get out of a similar situation once, but I think I lost a tooth during ours. You two were much speedier than I was."

"Janus?" asked Francine, even though she could see it was. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be up in the cabin, waiting for us."

"I wasn't about to just sit around and wait to be cornered, young lady," Rudolph waved off her complaint. "I hiked down to watch the end of the road and see who showed up looking for me. When I saw our Russian friends follow you in, I decided to get a closer look. Took me right back to the good old days." His grin widened and he gestured to them. "So, you two are the crack team they sent to bring me in?"

"Francine Desmond," she replied, stepping forward with her hand held out. "And this is my… partner, Efraim Beaman."

Rudolph's eyes twinkled as he shook her hand. "Partner, hey? Do all partners smooch in parking lots these days?"

"Only when they're very _good_ partners," answered Efraim, reaching to shake his hand as well.

"Well between what I saw in there," Janus nodded toward the bar, "and then out here, you seem to be _very_ good partners."

"So are you ready to head back into Washington with us," asked Francine. "Because the sooner we're out of here, the better."

"Lead the way," Janus swept his hand out in front of him. "I'm placing myself entirely in your capable and very lovely hands."


	7. Please Meet Your Party at Gate 7

It was starting to get dark when Lee finally spoke again.

"So when we get to Wilmington, the plane will be at the private hangars, right?"

"Yes," Amanda nodded. "Mr. Cassidy said his security people would let us right through."

"Well, I don't know my way around there so we're going to park at the main terminal first and get our bearings."

"Will we really need to? Won't there be signs? It can't be that big an airport, can it?"

Lee drummed his fingers in the steering wheel for a moment before deciding that Amanda out of the loop was more dangerous than Amanda in it. "The thing is, I think we picked up a tail along the way."

"A tail?" Amanda exclaimed, twisting in her seat to look behind them. "Someone's following us?"

"Yes – that blue sedan about three cars back." Lee glanced in the rear view mirror. "I'm sure I saw them near the church when we were dropping off that stuff. I might be wrong, but if I'm not, I want to use the airport crowds to lose them."

"What if there's more than just them?"

"That's not likely," countered Lee. "Whoever that is, they're probably just following us on spec. They know Janus is in the area since they tried to kill him and they know the Agency will send out a collection team, but the fact that they're following us says they don't have any idea where he is. And that's great news because even the Russians don't have enough manpower to send more than one team after everyone who left the Agency today."

"You mean, somebody's probably following Francine and Efraim too?"

"Probably."

"Shouldn't we warn them?"

Lee gave a dry chuckle. "I'll call Billy when we get to the airport – but honestly, there's not a chance Francine won't notice she's being followed and deal with it. They'll be fine."

Amanda began to chew a cuticle absently. "What if we can't lose them? What if we've led Karen and her family right into a trap?"

Lee reached over and grabbed her hand to pull it away from her mouth. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then believe me when I tell you Karen and her kids are not going anywhere but straight to our safe house tonight."

Amanda nodded, reassured despite herself. She was normally the one who was the more optimistic of the two of them, but up until now, the danger had usually been for just her or Lee – she wasn't sure about this burden of an entire family's safety resting on their shoulders.

Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, Lee suddenly remarked, "Do you ever hear from Alexei and his family?"

"A little bit - his mother wrote to say he won an Encom scholarship to a private school out in Seattle. They seem to like it out there."

"Well, there you go. We got Alexei back to his parents, we got you back to your boys after that Rostov thing, and we'll get Karen back to her father for Christmas."

"You sound so sure," she replied. "What if this is the time our luck runs out?"

"Oh it won't," said Lee confidently. "It never runs out when you make your own."

She realized they were turning into the exit lane for Delaware Airport and couldn't help glancing back, grimacing when she saw the sedan pull away from traffic to follow them down the ramp.

"I see them," said Lee before she could comment. "But don't worry – Christmas may be my least favorite time of the year, but boy, is it about to come in handy."

Amanda began to have an inkling what he meant a few minutes later when they stepped inside the terminal and found themselves buffeted by the heaving crowds. It wasn't anywhere near as big an airport as Dulles, but it did seem to have the entire population of Delaware inside it – people in ticket lines, people leaving, people arriving, families waving people off or hugging them hello. All throughout the airport, everything was decorated for Christmas and in between announcements, cheerful Christmas music blared over the PA.

Lee shuddered theatrically. "It's worse than I thought," he muttered, "but just what we need." He reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging her through the crowds, obviously with a destination in mind. To her confusion, he led her straight to a gift shop, snatching two Santa hats off a rack near the door as he went by, then back out into the crowds. She watched as Lee's head swivelled from side to side until finally he stiffened.

"There they are," he murmured. "Boris and a sidekick. And they've seen us too. Perfect."

"Isn't them seeing us a bad thing?" hissed Amanda.

Lee tapped the side of his nose and gave her a dimpled grin. "Now they see us…now they don't." As he spoke, he pulled her behind a large column and jammed one of the Santa hats over her dark hair, covering it almost completely, then quickly donned the other. "Fortunately, our pal Boris is the KGB's version of Fred Fielder and it takes very little to confuse the hell out of him. Now, take off your coat," he instructed, already starting to remove his own.

"What?"

"Take off your coat. Your coat. Take it off."

She rolled her eyes and did as he asked, then watched in confusion as he stuffed them out of sight behind a large planter.

"Okay, come on. We're heading for the departure gates." Lee wrapped his arm around her, tucking her into his body and moving her quickly down the terminal.

"Departure gates?" she squeaked. "Why?"

"To do this." Lee gave her another quick squeeze and then dragged her deep into a milling crowd getting ready to board a flight.

"To do wh-?" Amanda's question was cut off by Lee suddenly pulling her close and kissing her. Stunned, she didn't do anything for several seconds but close her eyes and let him. Finally her brain caught up with her instinctive physical reaction.

"Lee?" She didn't pull away, just moved her mouth slightly to press against his cheek. "What are we doing?"

"Shhhh," he breathed out. "And don't move. It's all part of the plan."

He shifted so that they were entangled again, the wide white fur trim of the Santa hats pressing together and her face cupped in Lee's hands as their lips met again. It wasn't as electrifying as the kiss they'd shared in Price's closet a few weeks before but… _Maybe I've just been building that up in my imagination since then?_ A beat later she realized that no, it really wasn't as electrifying and what was more, Lee wasn't actually trying very hard to match it. There was no doubt he was kissing her and also no doubt that he was very good at it, but it lacked… enthusiasm. Or for that matter, even borderline interest. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that his eyes were fixed on the crowd behind them.

"Lee?" she murmured against his mouth. "You know I don't have the hiccups, right?"

"Mm-hm." He wasn't listening to her at all.

Amanda tried another tack. "Lee? Isn't this a little sudden? I mean, shouldn't we talk about this? This could compromise our whole professional relationship."

He still didn't answer – she didn't think he'd even heard her, so intent on watching the crowd behind them. Slightly miffed, she bit down on his lower lip.

"Ow!" he pulled back startled and stared at her. "Amanda!"

"Oh good, you remembered I'm here," she said sweetly. "Now would you like to tell me why we're doing this?"

Lee chuckled, even as he looked guilty. "Oh, I'm sorry. We're, ah, we're trying to look like every other couple in this airport saying goodbye to each other." His voice was quiet and gravelly and he leaned back in, his lips starting to trace their way along her cheek even as he craned to see past her.

"Ohhhh," she breathed out, trying to calm her pulse rate, which was getting increasingly more difficult to do with the way his hands were absentmindedly running along her sides. "Well, you don't need to be sorry then. Since it's just part of the job, I mean." She felt him shake with laughter slightly under her hands. "So this is just…ahhhh… camouflage?"

"Exactly," he said, turning to drop a quick kiss at the corner of her mouth again. "Boris and his friend looking for two agents on the job, not two Christmas elves making out like there's no tomorrow."

"So can you still see them?" she asked, taking the opportunity to nuzzle his ear. He gave a small involuntary sigh and she smiled – good to know she could get under his skin too. "Or did we fool them?"

"Yeah," he replied distractedly. "They've gone right past us. We'll just give them a minute to get far enough away, then we'll double back and slip out."

"Mmmm, okay," Amanda replied, perfectly content to remain where she was for a little while longer. "So, just how often have you used this technique, Scarecrow? They teach you this in spy school?" she asked, running her hand under the edge of the Santa hat to tickle the back of his neck. She'd wanted to do that the last time they were this close, but they'd been hampered by straitjackets. This time though _… It's practically my patriotic duty_. _It has to look real, right?_ She smiled to herself as Lee leaned unconsciously into the gentle scratching of her fingers against his scalp.

His warm breath caressed her skin as he laughed softly. "I haven't actually used it on the job before; I perfected it long before I ever joined the Agency."

"Oh really? Do tell." She didn't really expect him to, since he was usually tight lipped about himself but to her surprise, he did.

"Well, every time my uncle and I had to move, I'd find the prettiest girl in whatever school I was at, and tell them that I'd been hiding my feelings all this time but now that I was leaving…"

"You'd declare your undying love and ask for a kiss goodbye to remember her always?"

"Exactly." She could feel him smiling where his mouth rested against her temple.

Amanda rolled her eyes and slapped the back of his head lightly, making him laugh. "Those poor girls. You gave them a literal kiss-off."

"I never had any complaints," he said in smug tones.

 _I'm sure you didn't,_ thought Amanda, barely keeping herself from saying it out loud. "Why did you even have to bother? Couldn't you always get any girl you wanted?"

Lee shook slightly with laughter. "At fifteen, I was a skinny bean pole with a bad haircut and a worse attitude."

"Well, at least the haircut's better now," she teased him, but Lee's attention was already gone.

"Okay, they're gone. And so are we." Lee stepped back and grabbed her hand, racing them back down the concourse to where he'd hidden their coats, then back out to the parking lot.


	8. All Fine and Perfectly Normal

Five minutes later, they were on the far side of the airport by the corporate jet hangars, with a security guard waving them to a stop. Lee pulled out his badge to pass it to the young officer.

"Lee Stetson and Amanda King. We're here to meet the Dynamica Industries jet coming in from Portland?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, we were told to expect you. The jet should still be about half an hour out, if you want to come in and grab a coffee while you wait." He gestured to the building behind him. "Snacks too – Mr. Cassidy always looks after the people who have to work on Christmas for him."

At his words, Amanda suddenly realized how ravenously hungry she was. "Gosh, you know, I haven't eaten since this morning! It's been such a crazy day!"

Lee pulled into a parking spot and got out to walk around and open the door for her. "Well, that's my fault, I'm sure. Come on, let's get in out of this cold."

"Oh Lee, how could that be your fault?" she chided him as he ushered her inside.

"Well, Billy's too," he replied. "We've all been running around all day trying to pull this off and I never thought to ask how you were doing. Did you even get that leg checked out?"

"I got a Band-aid from the Agency dispensary," she nodded. "It was just a little scrape."

The guard hadn't been exaggerating – there was a plate of sandwiches and another of Christmas cookies on the table, as well as a small fridge full of drinks. Amanda seized a chicken salad sandwich and bit into it gratefully.

"My favourite," she said happily after swallowing the first bite. "I don't think I could ever get sick of chicken salad." She picked up a sandwich and held it out to him. "Try them – they're really good. Extra mayo, just the way you like them."

Lee shook his head in wonder, as he took it from her and began to eat. "I think you must be part cat, Amanda King, you and your nine lives. An explosion goes off right in front of you and you manage to get away with just a cut on the leg and not a hair out of place."

"Oh, no," she answered. "Cats always land on their feet and if you'd seen me go down like a ton of bricks when Mr. Rudolph pushed me down, you'd know there was no cat-like grace to it. I probably have bruises everywhere."

Lee's gaze sharpened. "Are you really sure you're alright? When I got knocked down the other week, I lost a day's worth of memories…" They both flushed at the sudden recollection of exactly what he'd forgotten, then again as they both flashed back to their camouflage act in the main terminal half an hour before.

"You got run over by a cab and then tried to tackle a hulking professional football player," said Amanda in a bright tone. "I don't think my tumble was anywhere in the same league as yours."

"You'd tell me though, right?" Lee pressed her. "You wouldn't just put on a brave face and tell me everything was fine?"

Amanda tilted her head and studied him. He was much too serious about what had been a truly minor injury. "If I was seriously injured, of course I would," she said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"People lie about stuff like that," he said, far too darkly. "They pretend nothing's wrong when it is."

"Like you do," she pointed out. She picked up an iced cookie and began nibbling at it. "Every time you're in hospital, you do nothing but complain about how you don't need to be there."

"I don't-" he began, then stopped when she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's what people do," Amanda shrugged. "You don't want people to worry so you tell them everything is fine. We all do it, it's normal." She reached for the coffee pot and began to mix them both a cup, carefully adding exactly the right amount of cream to Lee's, just the way he liked it, and setting it down in front of him.

Finished with the sandwich, Lee picked up a cookie and stared at it before lowering his hand and tapping it absent-mindedly on the tabletop. "Amanda?"

She turned to look at him, hearing something in his voice that suggested he was more serious than usual. "Lee?"

"Can you do something for me?" He paused, looking for the words. "Can you not be normal around me?"

"Can I not be…?" she repeated. "What-"

"Just for that one thing," he rushed on, seeing her confusion. "If you're ever not alright, will you promise me you won't lie about it because you think that then I won't worry? Because I will anyway."

Amanda's concern increased; she put down her coffee cup and turned to face him fully. "I think I can promise that, but I'd like to know why it's so important to you."

"It's not important!" he blustered immediately, then stopped dead at the expression on her face. "My grandmother… she was looking after me the night my parents had their accident. And she kept telling me not to worry, that everything would be fine." He saw Amanda's eyes crinkle in confusion. "They didn't die right away in the accident – they were taken to hospital with their injuries and my grandmother, well, she just kept telling me I shouldn't worry because they'd be _fine_."

Amanda's heart seized a little as she took in what he was saying. "I didn't realize your grandmother had looked after you too," she said. "I thought it was just your uncle."

"No, it was my grandmother at first." Lee began to pace around the room, finally stopping and staring out the large window that looked out onto the tarmac. It was dark outside which meant Amanda could see his reflection clearly and the dull pain on his face. "And then one day, she wasn't feeling well and she called a neighbor over to watch over me while she went to the doctor - but she said I shouldn't worry, she'd be just fine. But she wasn't."

"Oh Lee, I'm so sorry." She walked over to stand beside him, hand on his arm while he continued to stare out the window. "So many people to lose so quickly."

"I didn't lose her," he said quickly. "At least, not then, but she was sick enough that she couldn't look after me alone and that's when my uncle took over."

"He took you away?" Amanda couldn't help the appalled tone in her voice.

"Oh no," Lee reassured her. "He got a compassionate transfer to D.C. and we all lived together until she died a year or so later." He grimaced slightly. "That was probably the beginning of all the reasons the Colonel missed so many promotions over the years. He should have been a general by now, but he kept having to step aside for other people to move up while he was stuck with diaper duty."

"I'm sure he didn't mind," ventured Amanda. "You were his family and he was yours."

"Oh yes, I'm sure he'd say it was all just _fine_ ," said Lee in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I know better. He resented me his whole life, just like I resented him for not being my parents."

Amanda was silent for a moment, still rubbing his arm gently. "Okay," she said finally. "I will never tell you I'm alright unless I really am." She lifted her eyes to look at him steadily. "But you have to promise me the same thing."

Lee blanched. Hiding behind bravado was his _thing_ – he couldn't just give that up, could he? Especially not around Amanda who worried about every little thing and blew everything up out of proportion. Except, he realized, she probably did that because she never knew when he was lying or not.

Amanda could see the emotional struggle going on in his eyes and continued to watch him unwaveringly until to her relief, she saw him give in.

"Fine," he said grudgingly, then caught his breath at the smile that lit up Amanda's face at his unconscious word choice.

She lifted her hand from his arm, and held it out. "It's a deal?"

Lee shook it solemnly. "It's a deal," he agreed.

The external door opened and the security guard poked his head in. "They must have picked up a tail wind – they're landing now," he told them. "You need to stay in here – better not to have too many people out on the tarmac, especially in the dark."

"But they'll need help with the children," Amanda began to object until the guard held up a hand.

"Ma'am? They'll have all the help they need. You just stay put in here where it's safe, okay?"

Amanda heard the small snort of laughter Lee tried to tamp down and reined in her instinctive reaction. "Yes, of course," she said. "You won't want a civilian getting in your way, would you?"

"No, ma'am," said the guard. "Thanks for understanding."

There was a beat of silence after he left, and then Lee cleared his throat. "Amanda," he said. "You don't think that I think you're just a civilian who gets in my way, do you?"

Amanda turned to grin at him. "Oh, I know I am," she said cheerfully. "But I like to think I make up for it most of the time."

Lee beamed back and had just started to answer when the doors to the tarmac opened again and Karen Rudolph and her family arrived.

First through the doors was Karen herself, carrying a baby in her arms and her eyes sweeping the tiny room instantly. A look of disappointment went across her face and Amanda stepped forward holding out her hand.

"Karen? Mrs. Alberts? I'm Amanda King – we spoke on the phone?"

Karen's face lit up with a small smile. "Oh yes! Mrs. King! Thank you so much for organizing all of this. When I got your first call, it was all I could do to stop myself from driving straight to the airport and getting on a plane, but it's so wonderful that you managed to get us all this!"

"It was my pleasure – and also Mister… I mean, my friend at Dynamica, he was happy to help" Amanda said soothingly. "I could just imagine how painful it would have been to leave your family behind today of all days. Especially this little one! She's adorable!" She beamed at the baby and held out her hands. "Can I hold her?"

Karen only briefly hesitated before handing Amanda the baby. "Thank you – there's so much to keep track of, with having rushed to get here."

Amanda cuddled the baby close, running a finger over her little pink cheeks with a smile, before answering.

"Well don't worry too much. I made arrangements for the house where you'll be staying to be outfitted with a crib and diapers and other supplies, and there will be someone assigned to help you out with any kind of shopping you need for things you might have forgotten. And we couldn't get the place decorated in such a short time but I did get someone to take over a small artificial tree and some ornaments that I had in my garage and set it up. It's not decorated yet– I thought that was something your children might want to do with their grandfather. Oh, and there's also enough groceries to get you through the holiday – there's even those slice and bake sugar cookies and some icing mix– since children enjoy a nice messy thing to do."

Lee's jaw dropped. It was the first he'd heard of any of this – when had she found time to do any of that? And yet it seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to have expected her to do – all the little extras that were going to make the safe house feel like a home – that had Amanda written all over it.

"You've been so kind," Karen's voice broke slightly and she scanned the room again with a hopeful expression. "But I thought maybe my father…?"

"Oh, I should have explained," Amanda leapt in again, taking the lead. "He wasn't in Washington yet either when we spoke. But he'll probably be there by now." She looked inquiringly at Lee, who nodded.

"Yes, in fact I was just about to call my boss and make sure everything was going okay at that end."

Amanda's mouth formed a small "oh" of surprise as she realized that they had not, in fact, ever called Billy to tell them they'd been followed or that there was a good chance Francine and Efraim had been too. "Oh my gosh! Well, you go do that while I help the Alberts get organized."

Karen's husband had arrived at this point, a dozing toddler in one arm with her head on his shoulder and a small five-year old boy, holding onto his other hand. He had the harried look of a man who really had no idea what he'd been swept up in. "I've got these two but our bags…" he looked around helplessly. "I'm used to just going to a carousel to collect them."

"Not a problem," said a voice behind him as the guard rolled a cart in after him laden with suitcases. "You don't worry about a thing. Where should I put these?" he asked Lee.

"In the station wagon outside," answered Amanda, waving him toward the door that led to the parking lot.

The guard headed out and was barely out the door before Karen said, "Oh! Jason! The kids' coats are in the blue suitcase!"

"Oh damn, I forgot" he answered. "Um, could you take her please? It'll be faster if I go since I know exactly where they are," he asked Lee in a harried voice, thrusting the sleeping child at him.

Lee instinctively held out his hands and found himself with an armful of deadweight boneless child. "I… wait," he said, but Jason was already out the door. "I don't know how to hold a baby," he muttered to the empty air. He looked down at the child as if it was a live bomb, afraid that any move he made might wake it up.

"Just don't drop her," said a solemn voice in front of him. Lee's gaze dropped to meet the eyes of the other child who was studying him, suspiciously. "That's what Mom says to me every time I hold the baby."

"It's, um, good advice," Lee offered. _For babies and bombs,_ he thought irreverently.

"Easier if you sit down," added his new friend.

"Also a good idea," said Lee, sinking onto a small bench seat, and discovering with relief that it did feel safer that way.

"I'm Tom. I rode here on a plane," commented the boy.

"I'm Lee and I know," said Lee, solemnly. "Your first time flying?"

"Yep. Mom told us to watch out the window and see if we could see Santa's sleigh, but we didn't."

"That's too bad," commiserated Lee.

"Are you one of his elves?" Tom asked, seriously.

"Am I what?"

"An elf. You're big but you're dressed like an elf."

For the first time, Lee realized he was still wearing the Santa hat he'd grabbed inside the airport terminal as part of their camouflage. "Oh! No, I'm not an elf, but I guess I'm kind of a deputy Santa helper tonight. Sorry, Chief."

"He's prob'ly busy anyway," answered Tom. "It's good he has helpers."

"And I'm sure he'll find you here." Lee winced as the words left his mouth, suddenly realizing it was very unlikely the Alberts had remembered to bring anything like that.

"Doesn't matter," shrugged Tom. "He's bringing us a new grandpa, so that's the good part." He frowned slightly and looked around. "But I thought Mom said our Grandpa would be here."

"Well, we're going to go meet him next," explained Lee.

"Okay. Can I have a sandwich?"

"You bet. Help yourself."

Lee smiled to himself as Tom turned and devoted all his attention to the plates of goodies. Shifting slightly to move the sleeping child to the crook of his arm without waking her, he reached out with his free hand, picked up the phone on the table beside him and dialed Billy.

"Hey, it's me," he whispered when his boss answered.

"Why are you whispering?" Billy asked immediately. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," Lee answered. "Karen and her family just arrived and we're sorting out the kids before we head back."

"So why are you whispering?" asked Billy again.

"Because I have an armful of sleeping kid and I don't want it to wake up. It's bad enough it's drooling down my shirt."

Billy's warm chuckle came down the line. "I wish I could get a picture of that."

"Well, you're out of luck – it's a once in a lifetime occurrence." Lee shifted to get more comfortable. "Say, listen, Billy – we had a tail up here. We ditched them in the crowd at the airport but it's likely Francine got followed too."

"She did and she lost hers too. She just called in to say they have Rudolph and they're on their way back here."

"Good," said Lee with relief. "We'll be on our way in five minutes."

"Ten," corrected Amanda from where she'd come to stand beside him. "We need to make sure everyone uses the restroom before we go."

Billy heard her comment and chuckled again. "There's the mom for you – and she's absolutely right. We'll see you at the safe house later, Scarecrow."

"Yeah, okay. Bye Billy."

Amanda took the receiver from him and hung it up, then continued to sway in front of him, gently rocking the infant in her arms. "Bet you never pictured having a Christmas Eve like this," she teased.

Lee leaned back and gazed up at her. The light behind her made her look even more angelic than usual and the doting smile on her face as she looked down at the baby made him smile in turn. "Can't say that I did," he agreed. _Can't say that I mind either._

"Starlit night, a baby, finding a room at the inn… we just need three wise men," she chuckled.

"Billy, Efraim and I don't count?" he retorted.

"In other circumstances maybe," she countered. "But tonight…" She looked around at the harried parents. "Tonight, we're more like shepherds, I think."

"Good point," he answered, easing himself to his feet. "Let's collect this little flock and get you all home to your families."


	9. Gift Exchange

Three hours later, the two of them and Francine and Efraim were gathered in the kitchen at the safe house, keeping an eye out as Ted Rudolph and his family got to know each other in the living room. He was rocking the baby in his arms while Karen sat beside him. Jason and the boys were hanging ornaments on the small tree Amanda had had Francine collect for her.

Lee leaned in the doorway, watching them. Outside of the tree, the room was bare of any decoration – safe houses not being known for being family-friendly – but not one member of the small family really seemed to notice. Karen looked permanently on the verge of bursting into either tears or laughter and kept one hand on her father's arm at all times as if he might disappear again. Tom and his little sister – now wide awake - ran back and forth from the tree to their grandfather, telling him stories in excited voices before racing back to hang another ornament. Through it all, the baby dozed, unaware of the emotion buffeting around her.

"They look pretty happy, huh?" said Amanda quietly at his elbow.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I thought the kids would be disappointed not to have a real Christmas, but look at them."

Amanda looked at him quizzically. "But Lee, they are having a real Christmas."

"You know what I mean," he said. "Santa and presents and all that stuff."

"Oh that stuff." Amanda nodded and glanced back at the happy family. "Well, they don't seem to have noticed, do they? And even the Grinch learned that's not really what Christmas is about, didn't he?"

Lee turned so that his back was against the door frame and surveyed her. "You think I'm a Grinch, don't you?"

"No, of course not," she replied, but her lips twitched slightly "Your heart's plenty big enough."

"But?"

Amanda shrugged. "No buts. You don't like Christmas – that's not a crime."

"I just don't like all the-"

"Stuff," Amanda finished for him. "I know." She smiled at him. "But like I said, that's not Christmas and we'll work on the other stuff."

"Amanda!" he started to say plaintively.

"Next year," she said mischievously. "But right now, I'd like to get home."

Lee glanced at his watch and barely held off swearing. "Oh my God – I'm sorry! Your family will be waiting."

"It's fine, Lee. I called home when we got here. They think I'm out helping with the Christmas baskets. I told them they were short on volunteers and I had to help out. They're not worried."

"Okay, but let's make them stop waiting," he answered, taking her arm and turning her back into the kitchen. "We're heading out," he said to Francine and Efraim.

"Okay – we'll wait until the guard shift change and then head out too," said Francine. "You two have a merry Christmas."

"Oh! Francine," said Amanda softly, digging through her purse and then holding out a small parcel Lee recognized from the car. "I never had a chance to give you this earlier. Merry Christmas."

"Oh you shouldn't have!" said Francine, although she looked very pleased to be receiving a gift.

"It's only a little thing. Thought it might make you laugh a little," Amanda smiled.

"Like Lee's annual scarf?"

"Hey!" Lee began to protest.

"I thought mine was lovely," Amanda interrupted diplomatically.

"Wait until you get another one next year," remarked Francine as she tore off the paper and laughed. "Oh Amanda! How perfect!" She held out the bottle of perfume to show Lee and Efraim.

" _Intrigue_?" said Efraim.

"Seemed like a good perfume for a spy," quipped Amanda.

"I hope it's a good one," teased Lee with a wink. "We've seen what cheap cologne does to you."

Amanda blushed prettily before responding, "Of course it's a good one! I wouldn't give Francine cheap perfume!"

"What does cheap perfume do?" asked Efraim, his interest piqued by that blush.

"Leaves her breathless," joked Lee before Amanda could answer. "Always comes as a surprise."

"Asthma?" said Efraim sympathetically.

"Something like that," Amanda answered, cutting Lee off before he could contribute again. "But I'm learning ways to control it."

"Control might be overstating it," murmured Lee. "But it's been… interesting researching 'cures'." He waggled his brows at Amanda who punched him lightly in the arm.

"Come on, you," she ordered. "And not another word or no Christmas present for you!"

They waved good-night to their friends and slipped out quietly, leaving the happy family behind.

"I could have just grabbed a cab back to the Agency, you know," said Lee a few minutes later as they crossed the Key Bridge. "You should have gone straight home."

"Don't be silly, it's a ten-minute detour," said Amanda firmly. "And besides, I'm sure it's not easy to get a cab on Christmas Eve."

"Well, I still feel bad – this whole day has been crazy," he grumbled.

"Maybe a little – but think of all the good we did," she argued.

"We did, didn't we, Pollyanna?" he grinned.

"I'm in such a good mood, I'm not even going to bother responding to that," she smiled back. "And here we are, back where we started."

Amanda pulled up to the curb and got out of the car, as Lee swung out the passenger door.

"You don't have to walk me to the door," he laughed.

"I'm not," she dimpled back at him as she opened the rear door of the station wagon and reached into to collect the other small parcel he'd seen earlier. She held it out to him. "This is for you. Merry Christmas."

"Oh Amanda, I thought you were kidding about presents," he groaned. "You didn't need to get me something."

"Well, you got me something," she pointed out. "And it's nothing exciting," she said, still holding it out. "Honestly. I just thought about a talk we had a while back when you'd helped me and this just seemed like something you could use. And that you might like." She waggled the box. "You can go ahead and open it now, if you like."

He took it sheepishly and unwrapped it, looking into the box and then up at her with a confused expression. "It looks like-"

"Socks," she nodded. "It is. I told you it wasn't anything exciting and I know you don't really do Christmas so I thought maybe a practical gift would suit you. And look, they're all identical, so you don't need to worry about matching them up in your laundry. And black because that will go with your suits and your black tie…" She trailed off as he chuckled.

"This is very thoughtful, Amanda," he said. "And perfectly logical, just like you. Thank you."

Amanda shifted from foot to foot. "Not entirely." Off his inquisitive look, she rushed on. "Logical, I mean. Well, it is a practical gift but I thought… the thing is, I might not be able to loan you socks, but I can make sure you have enough of them, right?"

Lee's throat had tightened as she spoke. "Oh Amanda," he said hoarsely.

"You think it's silly. I knew you would. It is silly. I mean, I know you don't really want a partner just to borrow socks from them, but until you find one like you promised you would…"

"I don't think it's silly. I think it's really nice," he interrupted her. "I love them. Really."

"You love socks?" she asked, but she had begun to smile again.

"I love that you got me socks," he clarified. "It's nice. You didn't have to get me anything, but this is… well, this is just really nice. These can be my lucky socks."

"You don't mind that it's kind of a boring Christmas present?" she prodded.

"It's not boring – it's nicer than what I usually get," he replied. Off her incredulous look, he clarified, "Usually I just get a lot of impersonal stuff like tie clips and cufflinks but this is, I don't know, homey?" He knew he was explaining it badly, but he really was touched by her gift. She was nodding though as if she understood what he was trying to say.

"Oh Lee," she sighed. "Are you sure you won't come for Christmas dinner? I hate to think of you spending Christmas all by yourself."

"You know I can't," he answered. "Need to know and all that." He reached out and straightened the Santa hat that, to his amusement, she was still wearing, then tapped her on the nose. "Now you should get on home to your family – they'll be missing you."

"Merry Christmas, Lee." Amanda tipped up on her toes and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, then pulled him into a tight hug. She turned hurriedly and got back into the station wagon, pulling away from the curb and leaving him to watch her tail lights until she turned the corner.

"Merry Christmas, Amanda."

* * *

An hour later, Lee let himself into his apartment, juggling the bag of Chinese take-out in one arm and his keys and a bottle of Dom Perignon in the other. Setting it all down on the kitchen table, he reached to flip on the television, rolling his eyes as the happy sounds of the ending of "It's a Wonderful Life" blasted out.

He dished out the takeout onto a plate, then settled onto his sofa, feet up on the table, flipping channels absently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flashing light and realized his answering machine had a message on it. He leaned over and pressed the play button.

"Hello Skip," said an all-too familiar voice. "This is your uncle."

Lee rolled his eyes – as if anyone else called him Skip. By habit, he moved to hit the erase button but something held him back. Maybe it was the carols playing on the television, maybe it was the image that rose up in front of him of Amanda's disappointed expression, but his finger hovered uncharacteristically above the button.

"I just wanted to call and wish you a Merry Christmas. I'm sure you're working or something – you always seem to be at this time of year, but…" he could hear his uncle clearing his throat before going on. "Anyway, I hope you're not spending it alone this year again and I hope… well, I hope you have a good Christmas. I know it bothered you when we were never in the same place twice for one, so maybe you're happy settled in one place. Anyway, if you get a chance, maybe call Barney – you know he retired out to Las Palmas this year, right? He asked if I wanted to come out and join him and his friend Gus – said the three of us could have a Curmudgeons' Christmas together." His uncle chuckled. "As if Barney could ever be anything but cheery at Christmas – it was always his favorite time of year. I used to tell him he was Bob Cratchit to my Scrooge and he'd always laugh and say no, he was too short – he had to be Tiny Tim."

Lee had mouthed the last few words of the joke alongside his uncle's voice. He'd almost forgotten that – how much Barney loved the holidays and how he used to pressgang Lee into helping decorate the mess hall.

" _These boys might be far from their families, but at least we can try and make it like seem like home, can't we?"_

On the machine, his uncle was still speaking. "Of course, I told him no, because I'd already signed up to cover for the base commander for Christmas – let the married guys spend it with their families, you know how it is… Anyway, I know he'd like to hear from you. And I … well, never mind. Merry Christmas, Skip."

The message ended abruptly. Lee stared into space for a few minutes, take-out forgotten.

 _Being alone is not the same as being lonely._

 _Except when it is._


	10. The Night Visitor

The wrapping paper had long since been cleared away, Dotty and her sister were happily squabbling over gravy in the kitchen and Amanda and the boys were stretched out under the tree, playing a board game when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" trilled Dotty. "It's probably Fred Bain – he said he might drop by for a glass of nog today!"

Amanda and Lillian exchanged knowing smiles. Dr. Bain had been very attentive in the last few weeks, and Dotty had been like a teenage girl in the throes of a crush.

"Oh! Hello," Amanda heard Dotty greet whoever was at the door politely. _Definitely not Dr. Bain then._ "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," said a warm voice Amanda knew – and had never expected to hear today. "I'm just hoping I have the right house – or that you can direct me… I'm looking for Amanda King."

"Oh yes, Amanda lives here. And you are?" She could hear the breathless quality in her mother's voice – that one that said Lee had made another conquest without even trying.

 _Those darn dimples_ she thought, her own smile widening.

She shot to her feet and jogged up the stairs to the small landing outside the family room.

"Well, Amanda and I work at the same film company and my car just broke down just down the street and then luckily, I remembered that I had dropped something off here once and well, anyway, long story short, I was wondering if I could use your phone to call AAA." Lee looked up and smiled past Dotty at Amanda who was now leaning in the door frame, watching this play out.

Dotty craned her neck and looked past Lee onto the street. "Is that your car?"

"Yes Ma'am," he confirmed. "1963 Porsche. Fun to drive but they break down a lot, I'm afraid."

"Well, of course, come inside, come inside," Dotty almost pulled him into the house. "You must be freezing! Amanda!" she started to call before seeing that Amanda had joined them. "Oh there you are, Darling. Look, one of your work friends is here! Isn't that nice? He says he needs to call the Auto Club, so why don't show the poor man to a phone and then get him a nice warm drink while he waits?"

"This is very kind of you," said Lee. "I sure hate to disturb you on Christmas Day and all, but…"

"Don't be silly," Amanda beamed as she stepped down into the foyer. "You know, I'm sure it's going to take AAA hours to get here on Christmas Day – why don't you take off your coat and stay a while? We have plenty of Christmas dinner if you don't have anywhere to go."

"Oh I couldn't do that…" Lee pretended to protest.

"Of course you can!" exclaimed Dotty looking back and forth between her daughter and the handsome stranger who had just turned up on their doorstep and the way they were looking at each other. "It's no trouble at all! Come right in, Mr. …um…"

"Stetson. But please, just call me Lee."

Amanda's brows rose as Lee's use of his real name and he gave her a half wink.

"Lee. Oh my," breathed out Dotty with an arrested expression. "Oh! Are you the Lee who called about the camper van? We chatted then, didn't we? I remember because you were the second Lee Amanda met around then."

"Oh, uh, yes, that was me," stammered Lee. "The camper van one I mean."

"It's an unusual name," said Dotty. "Not one you hear very often." She tilted her head and studied him.

"Heh, heh," Lee chuckled uncomfortably. "No you don't, do you?"

"Oh Mother, leave the poor man alone," Amanda finally interrupted, much to his obvious relief. "And before you ask, you know he's not Leland Cassidy the billionaire either – it's just a coincidence." She gave Lee an extra big smile. "Unless you've been holding out on us at work and slumming it, of course."

"Oh, I think I'm more Butch Cassidy than Leland, don't you?" he smiled back.

"Absolutely," she agreed, holding back her laughter.

"Well, coincidence or not, maybe it was a sign we should have expected you." Dotty broke in, looking between the two of them speculatively. She shook herself and headed back into the kitchen, vibrating with excitement. "Lillian! Set another place at the table! We have company!"

Amanda stepped closer, gesturing for him to take off his overcoat. "I'm so glad you came," she whispered.

"You don't mind? I know it's last minute but-"

She swatted his arm lightly. "Of course I don't mind – I invited you, didn't I? And isn't that what's Christmas is all about? Welcoming in weary travellers? Even if they're faking it?"

"I guess it is. And I wanted to see you before I left" he whispered back.

"You're leaving?" Startled, Amanda's voice went up in volume.

"Oh, not leaving-leaving! Just for a few days – don't worry," Lee soothed her.

"Oh good." The relief in her face was tangible.

"Yeah, I, um… well, I called my uncle when I got home last night."

"You did? Lee, that's wonderful!"

Lee ran his hand along the back of his head the way he always did when he was uncomfortable talking about something.

"Well, I didn't call him so much as call him back, really. There was a message from him on my machine when I got home, just to say Merry Christmas. Anyway, we talked for a while and he stuck himself on duty again this year…" Lee paused and acknowledged Amanda's knowing eyeroll with a grin. "And he's alone so I said I'd see if Billy would free me up and well, I'm on a midnight flight out of National to spend a few days with him."

"I'm so glad to hear that, Lee," Amanda patted his chest. "I'm sure he's thrilled."

Lee gave a bark of laughter. "Thrilled might be an exaggeration, but he seems pleased to have the company."

"I meant Billy," she chuckled. "But I'm sure your uncle is happy too. Now, let's get some Christmas dinner into you before you have to fly. Make sure to tell my mother that AAA can't come today and I'll offer you a ride home so you'll have a ride to the airport. You can come back and collect your car later – or ask Leatherneck to, I guess."

"Will it be safe out there?" he asked.

"Maybe not from Phillip," she acknowledged. "But he can't do much except leave fingerprints on it." She moved to hang up his coat.

"Oh, hang on. "He grabbed his coat back and dug into one of the pockets. "I brought you something. It's not much, since it's Christmas Day and all the stores are shut…"

"Oh Lee, you already gave me a gift!" Amanda looked at the small paper bag and looked up at him with a smile. "Did you buy this at the gas station?"

"Almost," he replied, grinning. "But no – there's a 24 hour pharmacy near my place."

Amanda carefully unwrapped the small paper bag and stifled a laugh. "Hai Karate? Really?"

Lee dug into another pocket. "Well, I thought maybe if this didn't work, hiccups would," he teased and held up a sprig of plastic mistletoe.

Amanda tucked the small bottle of aftershave into his suit pocket. "I'll do without the hiccups, thank you," she said and reached up to cup his face in her hands.

"Don't bite me," he warned her in a warm sotto voice, as his hands went to her waist.

"Not this time," she whispered and pressed her lips gently against his for a chaste kiss.

They stood for a moment, foreheads resting against the other, before Amanda stepped back and took his hand.

"Come on," she said. "Come and meet my family."


End file.
